German soap opera has thinly veiled references to branded drugs, regulator says
BMJ 2008; 337 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.a619 (Published 01 July 2008) Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a619- Annette Tuffs
- 1Heidelberg
A dispute has arisen in Germany over accusations of surreptitious advertising of prescription drugs in a television soap opera set in a hospital.
The German Council of Public Relations has accused the makers of the drama of failing to make adequate changes to certain episodes, after they admitted accepting payments in return for mentioning specific products.
The amended programmes were broadcast again recently on regional television channels.
The council says that although drug names have been eradicated or changed to fictional …
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